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Digitizing Vinyl; Suggestions Please

I’m moving out of country and will be selling my vinyl, about 300 discs
So I want to digitize them, then sell them prior to leaving the US .....

TT-Arm-Cart: VPI Scoutmaster II, VPI JMW 10.5i tonearm, Classic 3 Headshell, Ortofon Quintet MC Black
Phono cable: Furutech Ag 12, 1.2m ----> into a
Phono PreAmp: Manley Chinook Phono (4 Tubes) --> into
----> Shunyata Zitron Cobra ICs. ----> Aesthetix Calypso - (4 tubes).

I don’t own/run any recording software on my Mac at home since I live off-grid with no wifi or cell.
Ive always wanted to use the Pure Vinyl Vinyl App to record, but I don’t want to invest in it now.
I guess I do have JRiver, but really haven't used it since my computer was stolen 6 mo ago. 

I’m just looking for a simple and easy way to digitize . That said, I have a Sony PCM D100 portable audio recorder that also has an ADC. The ADC recording is a bit flat to my ears, so I want to make sure it records some of the tube qualities that I like- rich tones, ripe bass, airy top end.

Right now Im experimenting with using the Sony to record. Ive tried two methods so far to check for SQ.
1. Recording right out of the Chinook Phono Pre with an IC having 2 RCA terminations on one end and 1/8’ term on other end.
2. Allowing the signal to run into the Calypso PreAmp, then recording out of the "Tape Out"

--> The 1/8" end plugs into the Sony. Records in 2.8 DSD and 24/192 and its derivatives
The 2 RCA- 1/8" IC was made by Belkin. It is good, but not up to par with the VPI and Chinook.

So I decided to buy the Nordost Heimdall 2 likable IC in the same configuration.
It was a ridiculous price, but it appears head and shoulders above the competition.

Any suggestions so far?

Last, Im looking for an audio editing App mainly to cut up the songs, add track marks and song names, maybe take some distortion out if I can, If it is relatively easy to correct.

E.g. the SQ from my 2 different recording methods above are slightly different.
There is actually more "vinyl hiss distortion" when recording out of the Chinook than the Calypso.
But recording out of the Calypso covers up the hiss with a sound that is tube-like,
but not always better than recording right out of the Chinook. Following me??? LOL>

Ok, thanks for your input!


128x1281graber2
tkr
100 posts
 
A word of caution:

Dgitizing vinyl takes waaay longer than you think. 300 LPs- lets say 45 minutes of music each- that´s 225 hours of music.

A good estimate is that one hour of digitised vinyl takes two hours to get right. Even if you don´t do any declicking, you might want to normalise levels, and at the least you have to divide every LP-side into individual songs and give them a title.

Your project is probably going to take you around 450 hours. Maybe you would be better off selling your LPs and buy the same music on CD.


bstatmeister
537 posts
 
Vinyl front end>Schiit Jil>Audacity
tazdevl30
10 posts
 
I seriously doubt you are going to find anything affordable on the market which will allow you archive your LP’s and sound as they do on your VPI rig. About the best sounding alternative for eliminating the need of playing the actual LP which sounds as good or better than the original is old school recording to 1/4" or 1/2" 2 track open reel tape at 7 1/2 ips. At 7 1/2 ips you save tape and eliminate the need for bottom end compensation since at 15 and 30ips speeds head design tends to thin out bottom end response below 100hz.

If you can live with marginal losses in music quality with some noise, any of the digital methods previously discussed will get you there. Sweetvinyl had a demo at the audio show a year or so back which sounded and worked pretty well to my ears anyway. Not perfect sound, but what is when you are really into vinyl playback? Their components and software should cover all the bases you require, but it’l cost you a bit more than you may want to spend Here is the link: https://www.sweetvinyl.com/

Personally I’d bite the bullet , painful as it is, and ship my Lp’s and audio rig to wherever you are going, especially if you are going to be there a significant amount of time. Otherwise, save time and expense, download high res files from someplace like HD Tracks and deal with the difference of vinyl versus high resolution digital. You can run them from your laptop and a minimal system, decent DAC, pre-power amp, or maybe powered speakers with powered sub. Not ideal but functional.
johngpilot
3 posts
 
I did this using a Technics turntable, Marantz 1152 DC amp into an audiophile 2496 PCI board in a desktop. You could get a Scarlet i4 from sweetwater which is what I am using now it works on the MAC.  That old board is used for high quality encoding in the PC. Then I used Adobe Audition because of the great audio editing tools for noise reduction and especially click and pop elimination.
Audition also has the ability to let you easily cut and sequence the files and finally a burning option to master them as WMA files and CD quality for uniform volume, track spacing, and perish the thought ..to MP3 them if you choose .. I will probably be thrown off the forum for that one don’t bother unless there is a compelling reason.

It is a process that you have to pay attention to but is not hard. It seemed like I was changing sides on albums every few minutes for a long time. You can just about do one while the next side is being recorded.
I had fun doing it but I also do recording as hobby.
John
topoxforddoc's avatar
topoxforddoc
353 posts
 
The quality of the A2D converter is crucial to obtain the best quality transfer. That's why I suggested the Prims Sound, as they are renowned for making some of the very best A2D converters for the studio market.

The Focusrite Scarletts are very much a starter A2D interface. I have one of those as well, but there is a big difference in SQ between the Scarlett and the Prism Sound.
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